For Father's Day: Vintage Clock Radio Planters by Breda Ponnay for Alphamom.com #FathersDayCraft #FathersDayGift #DIYGift #UpcycledCraft

Crafts

Vintage Clock Radio Planters for Dad!

If you happen to have one of those zany dads who loves vintage finds this might just be the most awesome Father’s Day gift idea ever. A Vintage Clock Radio Planter! Why? Because it’s awesome! You just need a few tools, a tinkering nature and you can whip this recycled craft gift up in an afternoon.

Supplies needed to make Vintage Clock Radio Planter:

vintage clock or radio big enough to be recycled into a small planter
a drill (use your common sense and safety when using)
jig saw (use standard safety precautions when using)
small plants (succulents work well)
small plastic containers to fit inside the vintage clock radio
a screw driver and possibly some pliers

How to make Vintage Clock Radio Planter:

First you need to take your radio apart. In my opinion this is the fun part. First, make sure your electronic is unplugged (this is common sense and obvious. But honestly, if you need to be reminded to unplug your electronic before attempting this upcycling project, you should just go do an easier craft instead).

Loosen all the screws, wiggle things gently, cut wires…You basically need to get rid of all the guts inside the radio but leave the outside intact. Work carefully because sometimes vintage plastic can be brittle.

I know, I know. Some of you are groaning, Why ruin a perfectly good vintage clock radio!?! I felt a little guilty too. Kind of like that time I hacked up the chrome radio in my 1967 Dodge Dart and put in a cheap Price Club pull-out stereo when I was in college. I regret that decision. But I was only twenty-something and didn’t know anything about vintage cars.

Clock radios on the other hand are not quite as rare. We bought this vintage clock in a dusty antique store for eight bucks and the radio sounded like the ghost of Trump (so basically it’s useless) so I was happy to gut it for a fun craft. I know the Dad in my family will get a lot more joy out of it than it will sitting in that dusty antique shop for another twenty years.

After you gut the radio then you need to create openings for your planters. We used small lunch box containers for our plants but if you wanted to keep this clock outside and you weren’t worried about drainage. you could probably just fill the clock itself with dirt and skip the containers.

Cutting the holes for the plant containers is definitely the tricky part of this craft. You will need to go slow and make sure you are working on a level surface and you are experienced using a jig saw. First draw an outline of the shape you want to cut out. We just traced our small containers with a felt tip pen. Then drilled a hole in the middle so you have a spot to insert your jigsaw. Then carefully cut out the shape with the jig saw, going at it in bits. If the edges are rough after you cut you can sand them down with a file or some sand paper. Ours didn’t need any sanding but yours might.

After you have finished cutting out the holes now you are ready to add plants! (We drilled holes in the bottom of these containers for drainage but many succulents will be totally fine without drainage. We plan to take these little containers out to water them once a week, wait for them to drain and then put them back into the planter. These plants don’t usually need more water than that.)

Pretty groovy right? What dad wouldn’t want that sitting on his credenza. I know I would love it!

We had so much fun making that clock we starting looking around for another clock we could upcycle. And guess what! We found one. This clock never really had very bright numbers so we removed them and put in a funny picture instead! Except this time we put a pathos plant in a jar of water inside. Pathos like this can live in jars of water for years and will even make long dangling vines hanging down for miles. Well, not miles but they will grow really long as long as they have room for their roots to curl around in water.

Easy peasy right?

Whether Dad takes this planter to work to liven up his work space or he keeps it at home with the other plants, we know it will always bring a smile to his face and everyone else who happens on it as well.

Happy Father’s Day!